Posts by pearlaction
Sri Lanka pledges safe passage for civilians
[Reuters] A U.N. convoy carrying hundreds of people wounded in shelling between Tamil Tiger rebels and the Sri Lankan military left the war zone on Thursday after being held back two days ago, the United Nations said. “The convoy just crossed the frontline with hundreds of the civilians wounded by the fighting, including 50 critically…
Read MoreS Lanka army in ghost ‘Tiger’ town
[ BBC ] Heavy monsoon rains were falling as we approached the outskirts of Mullaitivu in a Sri Lankan armoured personnel carrier. “We had to fight here for one week or so,” said Colonel Arun Aryasinghe, as he showed us a huge earthen defence line constructed by the Tamil Tigers. “It was a very hard…
Read MoreSri Lanka: Pillay deplores deteriorating situation for civilians
[OHCHR] GENEVA — The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said Thursday she was deeply concerned by reports of the rapidly deteriorating conditions facing a quarter of a million civilians trapped in the conflict zone in northern Sri Lanka, and of alleged human rights abuses and a significant number of civilian casualties, as…
Read MoreSri Lanka: Urgent Action Needed to Prevent Civilian Deaths
[HRW] The Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) should take immediate steps to allow thousands of civilians trapped in a shrinking conflict zone safe passage and to ensure that they receive desperately needed humanitarian aid, Human Rights Watch said today. Intense fighting between the Sri Lankan army and the separatist…
Read MoreSri Lanka: When the Whole World Isn’t Watching
[AlertNet] One of the harsh realities of the humanitarian field is that some crises capture public attention, while others do not. The patterns are rather rigid. Crises in Europe and the Middle East, especially Palestine, make headlines. Large-scale natural disasters, even in obscure places, attract interest due to the inherent human fascination with immense forces…
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